Health4 min(s) read
One simple action that can increase prostate cancer risk by 45%
New research has suggested doing one thing could increase a man's risk of prostate cancer by 45%.
Per the Mayo Clinic, prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers, and is often found early and grows slowly.
Many people with prostate cancer can be cured if it is found early enough, and there are still many treatment options for those for whom it has spread.
It also has a very high survival rate compared to other cancers, but as with any form of th disease, early detection is key.
According to an analysis of data from across seven countries from the world’s largest prostate cancer screening study, the European Randomized study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC), there is one action that can increase the risk of prostate cancer by a huge 45% - skipping screenings.
Of 72,460 men invited to screening for the study over 20 years, around one in six men (over 12,400) were non-attenders and skipped every appointment. The study found that men in this group had a 45% higher risk of dying from prostate cancer than those who'd attended every appointment.
Long-term follow-up data from the ERSPC consistently found that screening programmes contributed to a 20% reduced risk of dying from prostate cancer.
The analysis of 20-year follow-up data from the ERSPC study, led by researchers from the Department of Urology, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute at the University Medical Center Rotterdam, The Netherlands, found a clear link between consistently declining screening invitations and the risk of dying from prostate cancer.
It found that in comparison to the control group - men who were never invited to screening – men who attended screening appointments had a 23% lower risk of dying from prostate cancer, while men who didn't attend faced a 39% higher chance of death from prostate cancer.
The study’s lead author, Renée Leenen MD, a PhD researcher in the group of Professor Monique Roobol at the Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, said that there can be a wide range of reasons men were declining to attend their screening.s.
Leenen explained, via Uroweb.org: "It may be that men who opted not to attend a screening appointment are care avoiders, meaning they’re less likely to engage in healthy behaviours and preventative care in general. This is the opposite behaviour of people who are perhaps more health conscious and are more likely to attend a screening appointment.
"Our study identifies that men who were invited for screening, but do not attend screening appointments are at significantly higher risk of dying from prostate cancer compared to men who were not offered screening or accepted an invitation for screening.
"We need to better understand who these men are, why they choose not to attend appointments, and how to motivate them. This will help us to design population-based prostate cancer screening programmes that encourage higher rates of informed participation.
"Tackling attendance rates in this way could be a big factor in the long-term success of a national prostate screening programme."
Several European countries are now working to align their population-based screening programmes for prostate cancer to encourage greater attendance.
The new analysis also suggests that the overall benefit of screening for prostate cancer is higher than previously thought, with Dr Tobias Nordström, Clinical Urologist at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, and Member of the EAU Scientific Congress Office explaining: "For countries around Europe that are planning to introduce a national prostate screening programme, this analysis focusing on attendance shows that men who participate in screening have a much-improved long-term benefit than what we’ve seen from previous studies.
"But it highlights a group of men who need our attention, as they’re more at risk of developing advanced prostate cancer and dying from it.
"We need to better understand why these men might actively choose not to participate in screening, despite being invited to attend, and how this behaviour is linked to worse outcomes when they get a diagnosis."
Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer for men in 112 countries, with cases predicted to double by 2040.
Screening programmes that measure levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in the blood if introduced on a national scale could give men earlier access to treatment, and therefore a better chance of being cured as well as reducing the costs involved in treating advanced prostate cancer.